The Unfamiliar Garden

August 1, 2021

In the second book in "The Comet Cycle," begun with Jun 2021's The Ninth Metal, Jack loses daughter Mia when Earth sweeps into the debris field of a comet and thousands of meteors rain down. Botany professor Jack, now a recluse, is studying a deadly parasitic fungus in his lab when ex-wife Nora asks for his help. She's investigating ritualistic murders rocking Seattle, and ultimately they will be called upon to save the world. With a 40,000-copy paperback and 3,000-copy hardcover first printing.

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Starred review from November 22, 2021
Percy’s masterful second Comet Cycle genre-bender (after The Ninth Metal) combines a missing-person case, romantic reconciliation, and a riveting sci-fi what-if imagining of a sentient fungi, spawned by debris from a passing comet, that symbiotically absorbs flora and fauna—including human beings. On the day the comet swept Earth with a dramatic meteor shower, “fun dad” Jack, a mycologist, took his eight-year-old daughter, Mia, on a mushroom study trip through a dank forest outside Seattle—where she vanished. This devastating loss breaks up Jack’s marriage to Nora, a type A police detective. Now, five years later, Nora investigates a series of eerie, ritualistic Seattle homicides, while Jack boozily self-destructs his academic career. The pair gradually reconnect by probing into the ominous fungal invasion—a line of inquiry that may lead them to Mia. Meanwhile, a sinister governmental operation attempts to militarize the fungus, developing it into a mind control serum. The juxtaposition of malignant military-industrial machinations and well-delineated human tension works wonderfully, and sci-fi fans will appreciate Percy’s extraterrestrial biological lore. It’s a thoroughly satisfying near-future glimpse of both disaster and salvation. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

December 21, 2021
Percy's latest is at times gross and poignant, occasionally in the same paragraph. The previous book in the series, The Ninth Metal (2021), was about a boomtown that sprang up in the wake of a comet crashing to Earth. The comet was made of omnimetal, a miracle substance that almost started a war in rural Minnesota. But it seems like the real threat to humanity has laid dormant for years, finally emerging in the Pacific Northwest. Nora, a detective, and Jack, a professor of mushrooms, were married until the disappearance of their daughter made their differences too difficult to overcome. As people are sickened by a mysterious fungus, Jack and Nora come together to figure out what's happening despite a government cover-up. There are disgusting mutations and creepy scenes of violence, but the search for family and belonging motivates the protagonists. Briskly paced, The Unfamiliar Garden ties up the action quickly with an eye toward the trilogy's finale. Recommended for fans of John Scalzi and Sylvain Neuvel.

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